


they made a meme out of my legacy

by gaykids



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Beverly Marsh & Richie Tozier Are Best Friends, M/M, Mutual Pining, Oblivious Eddie Kaspbrak, Stanley Uris & Bill Denbrough & Eddie Kaspbrak Friendship, i honestly dont know this is such a mess, pennywise??? who is she idk her
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-05
Updated: 2017-12-05
Packaged: 2019-02-10 23:43:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12922734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaykids/pseuds/gaykids
Summary: Eddie Kaspbrak woke up on what he thought was a regular Tuesday morning to find that a photo of himself had been posted on the Derry High Memes page on Facebook.





	they made a meme out of my legacy

**Author's Note:**

> this was meant to be 2k but i got a bit carried away by the jdea. it prob isnt even that funny but it's been in my head for like deadass a whole year and this ship just felt perfect for it sjjdjsj
> 
> im like highkey tired so i didnt proofread. also sorry for the weird spacing i did it on google docs and i regret it
> 
> this fic includes:  
> eddie/stan/bill friendship  
> richie/bev friendship (my #1 kink)
> 
> title from stranger's kiss (duet with angel olsen) by alex cameron
> 
> u can also read this in [russian](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15125300)

Things in Derry had always been extraordinarily unextraordinary for the first sixteen years of Eddie Kaspbrak’s life. Sure, there had been that one time where the rug had been tugged from beneath his feet as the pharmacist’s daughter exposed his medication as fraudulent, something that had made his whole life seem like a lie. And there was also that time… well, actually, there wasn’t much else at all.

 

That was why when he woke up on a Tuesday morning with more than two Facebook notifications he knew something was up.

 

Eddie was definitely, no two ways about it, a bit of a loser. He had a grand total of two friends and a couple of acquaintances and not much else. All up, he had about fifty-three Facebook friends, half of which including distantly related family and the other half being whatever random classmates had shot him a friend request.

 

Not only was he sitting on twenty notifications, but he also had twelve friend requests. It wasn’t an insane amount to the average Facebook user, but for him it was. He could feel his heart rising in his throat before he even checked either, his mind already assuming the absolute worst.

 

_Stanley Uris mentioned you in a comment_

 

_Bill Denbrough mentioned you in a comment_

 

The rest were all different people; people he hardly knew responding and liking Bill and Stan’s comments. Eddie finally pressed the one of the notifications, simultaneously dying to know what it was and just dying, period.

 

What he found was not what he was expecting though, like, at all.

 

_And here we have Eddie Kaspbrak, the official 8th wonder of the ancient world._

 

Attached, was a photo of Eddie standing at his locker, alone. Instantly, he recognised it as a photo taken yesterday, Monday, due to the dark grey socks he was wearing, which were his Monday socks. He realised it must’ve been taken between first and second period, as that was the only time he wasn’t with either Stan or Bill, having had Italian, which neither boy took.

 

Was the caption calling him old? Was it meant to be a compliment? Was it just a joke? Eddie couldn’t decide, idly thinking as his eyes wandered to the name of the Facebook page; _Derry High Memes_.

 

And, what the fuck. It was a meme page. Personally, Eddie didn’t think he looked half bad in his soft grey sweater and red shorts. Perhaps not, though, if his look was _memeable_. The thought of his picture being posted on that page made him want to deactivate his own account.

 

He was probably expected to comment on it in response, but he didn’t know how to. Was he meant to joke back? Or was he meant to get mad? Was it okay to not say anything at all?

 

He couldn’t wrack his mind for who it could be, unless it were his friends playing a joke on him but he really thought they wouldn’t do that so it just _had_ to be someone else. Someone making fun of Eddie.

 

The page was full of other posts, all of which focused on the school and the teachers, none of which on particular students. Eddie wondered, while reading a post about his own English teacher (“ _the most entertaining moment of the day is when mrs forder puts on a movie and the whole class groans bc they just know it’s going to be either billy elliot or avatar”_ ), if he knew whoever it was personally, if they were even in his grade.

 

They had something like four-hundred likes, which was an insane amount for the small school, and it made Eddie’s heart hammer in his chest knowing that many people could possibly see that post.

 

That many people probably didn’t even know Eddie existed, he thought while short of breath.

 

-

 

“Y-you saw?” Bill asked, basically the second Eddie was in his line of sight.

 

He must’ve been waiting by Eddie’s locker, a place which Eddie now considered a hazard seeing as he seemed to have his own personal paparazzo now. He fiddled with the lock until the door swung open and he could take his books from his locker.

 

“Of course I fucking saw!” He snapped, “I just want to know who else did.”

 

“Probably a f-few.” Bill didn’t even react to Eddie’s snappy reaction, already knowing by now that Eddie could be a spitfire if he felt like it.

 

“A _few_ ?” Eddie laughed, and not the joyous kind; more the sarcastic, manic kind as he shoved his Italian textbook into his locker knowing he wouldn’t need it. “The post had fifty likes. _Fifty._ ”

 

“T-that’s not-t-t the worst… when you think about how m-many people go to this suh-sch-school.” Bill stuttered out, obviously trying to be encouraging.

 

Eddie just looked at him with the flattest expression he could muster; “Yeah, cool, thanks.”

 

Bill raised his eyebrows, “Okay th-then.”

 

“Yeah, yeah.” Eddie turned back to his locker. It felt like people were staring at him, and usually when that happened he knew he was being paranoid, but this time he didn’t think so. “A million compared to a billion is nothing, but a million compared to one is a lot. Fifty feels like a lot, okay?”

 

Especially when it’s the amount of times people have _liked_ the Facebook post which humiliated Eddie to the core.

 

Bill didn’t reply, and instead Stan decided to show up just at that time. Eddie felt lucky to be friends with Stan, as the fact they were extremely like-minded gave him ease in this situation. The moment Stan saw him, he frowned sympathetically.

 

“You doing alright?” He asked.

 

Eddie didn’t feel the same compulsion to snap at Stan like he did at Bill, and instead stared directly at Stan with an exaggerated expression; “No. This has to be, like… like, cyberbullying or some shit!”

 

Stan rolled his eyes, “Why do you assume it’s a joke?”

 

“Because…” Eddie didn’t want to finish the sentence aloud, knowing it would be something along the lines of _why would someone like me?_ so he allowed himself to trail off instead.

 

“Just saying, could be a girl.” Stan said, and that made Eddie want to roll _his_ eyes, and also simultaneously crawl into his locker and stay in there forever.

 

Something the boys didn’t know about Eddie was that he lacked a… preference for girls. It was something he had always been trying to figure out, something he hadn’t quite come to terms with, and something he assumed would follow him into his grave. Or at least in this town until he ultimately moved away for university.

 

Realising he hadn’t replied for a few beats, Eddie coughed out a strangled laugh and turned his back on the boys. He could practically feel the confused looks they gave each other from behind him and cursed himself for being so obvious. He never was a good liar, though.

 

“W-we can help y-you figure it out.” Bill said.

 

Eddie turned to face him again, curiosity but also anxiety thrumming beneath his sternum. “It’s fine. They probably won’t do it again.”

 

“Famous last words.” Stan said.

 

-

 

Surely enough, when Eddie woke up on Wednesday morning he was greeted with yet another influx of notifications, flooding his lock screen. He tried reasoning with himself, that maybe they had been from the first post, but somehow he knew there was something else.

 

This was confirmed when Eddie opened his most recent notification and was met with a photoshopped image of his face on a male model’s body. Eddie’s heart felt like it was beating in his knees as he read the caption; _this piece of art is inspired by a dream i had._

 

Now, well. They were definitely making fun of Eddie.

 

There was no doubt in Eddie’s mind this was some random person, or people, acting on an inside joke. They probably trash talked him daily, or something. Because there was no other way someone would post stuff like… this.

 

Unless they _did_ really like him, but that was a pipe dream, Eddie knew. No one had liked Eddie properly since he was thirteen, and it was a girl. He knew if anyone had a crush on him it would just be another girl he barely knew. He sincerely doubted any boys at school were… like him, at all.

 

Still, the thought of someone actually liking him made him feel a bit fuzzy, just from the idea of it. He knew though, as his most dominant thought, it was probably just someone picking on him. God, it could’ve been Henry Bowers for all he knew. Except, well, this seemed thought out, and Henry Bowers acted more on instinct.

 

Eddie could feel his curiosity floundering.

 

-

 

Mrs Forder walked into English that Wednesday afternoon with a smile on her face and her laptop in hand. She pulled her copy of _Billy Elliot_ from her top desk drawer and all Eddie could think about was the post he had read on the _Derry High Memes_ ’ Facebook page.

 

She looked to the students and started taking attendance, calling the names one by one for every student to respond to. As always, there was one kid who yelled out _no!_ when their name was called, and the rest of the classes’ monotonous _here_ s and _yes_ es.

 

“Richie?” She called, looking out to the empty seat behind Eddie which Richie Tozier usually filled, “Does anyone know where Richie is? It says he should be present.”

 

Beverly Marsh, a girl Eddie didn’t know too well but knew she was Richie Tozier’s certified BFF, responded from behind Stan, who was next to Eddie; “He went to the toilet.”

 

Mrs Forder nodded and marked him as present as if he were in the class. Stan muttered under his breath; “I hate when the teachers mark people present when they haven’t showed up yet. Can’t they wait? What if he doesn’t come?”

 

Eddie didn’t know how to respond because it clearly didn’t irk him as much as it did Stan.

 

“Okay, everyone.” Mrs Forder stood in front of the whiteboard, reaching upwards to turn the projector on. She had already plugged it into her laptop, and her screensaver (ocean waves) began fading onto the whiteboard. “I thought you’ve been stressing out a lot lately-”

 

The door opened and Richie Tozier walked in, his hair an unruly, curly mess. His wide eyes peered around the class from behind his thick glasses like he was scared of interrupting, but his face broke out into a wide smile.

 

Eddie tried to ignore the way his heart felt trapped in his throat at that. He didn’t even know Richie, but Richie seemed funny, even if he was entirely immature about everything, and he was tall and lanky and attractive in an awkward sort of way.

 

It was usually easy to ignore, the strange crush he had. He could brush it off as inexperience, or a weird fantasy of a world where he could like a boy and that was fine. However, in moments like this, where Richie was smiling, Eddie found it extremely hard to pull his eyes away.

 

“- so I decided to put on a movie for you all.”

 

Richie nodded at Mrs Forder, acknowledging his tardiness. His black, curly hair bounced like a black, curly halo. “A movie? Is it Billy Elliot or Avatar this time, miss?”

 

Mrs Forder stared at Richie, who smiled in response before adjusting his glasses and walking down the aisle.

 

Eddie snorted out a small sort of laugh, and blushed when Richie looked his way. He thought about the _Derry High Memes_ page for the second time in the last five minutes, and somehow found himself wishing it was Richie running it, and that it wasn’t a joke.

 

-

 

In the cafeteria, Eddie watched his friends stare at him as he tried to eat the lunch his mother packed for him. When the stares felt like too much, he finally asked; “What?”

 

“Uh, nothing.” Stan said, and looked down at the table.

 

“Yeah right!” Eddie said, maybe a bit too loud, “You were both staring at me for ages, spit it out.”

 

“W-we just thought…” Bill trailed off, “just… y-y-you said y-you didn’t want to f-find the person buh-buh-because you didn’t th-think they would do it again.”

 

Eddie wasn’t dumb, he could see how the dots matched up. The page posted again, they wanted to find out who was behind it. Eddie realised it was less for his own sake and more because of their own interests.

 

“No.” Eddie said, because he couldn’t shake the feeling it was a joke being played on him,

 

“B-but we have a puh-plan.” Bill said, and Eddie immediately wanted to bash his head into the table. Of course they had a plan.

 

“Yeah! It’s actually really good.” Stan piped up, like Eddie asked for his opinion.

 

Eddie put his sandwich down, not on the table but back into his lunchbox obviously, and looked back up at Stan and Bill across from him. He could feel his curiosity getting the best of him as he asked, “What plan?”

 

Stan smiled, teeth and all, which was weird because Stan hardly did that, and unveiled his and Bill’s master plan, “So we get a man on the inside, then we can figure out who the main admin is. We think there’s only one admin, because all the posts are really similar like they’re from the same person.”

 

“You do realise that couldn’t work.” Eddie says, “If they know me, they know you guys too. They wouldn’t accept you as an admin. It’s too obvious.”

 

Bill just smiles as Stan continues, “What, do you think we’re dumb? Of course we couldn’t do it. Our idea is that we ask someone completely random. Someone who doesn’t associate with us but will be nice enough to do it.”

 

Eddie can imagine them on the phone late at night, using up all the prepaid credit their parents buy them as they discuss _Derry High Memes_ and Eddie in detail.

 

He wants to voice this image, but instead he scoffs, “Oh yeah, sure.”

 

“It would work!” Stan argues.

 

“And who would you ask?” Eddie questions, because the school is pretty low on nice people that aren’t associated with them.

 

Bill’s face becomes increasingly more red over the course of Stan’s next statement; “Beverly Marsh maybe. She sits behind us in English and seems nice.”

 

Of course, Eddie didn’t comment on Bill’s reddening face as his own did the exact same. “Not Richie?”

 

“If he wants to, I guess.” Stan said without much intention behind his words, “Are you agreeing?”

 

“If it happens again. Fine.” Was what Eddie settled with, mostly aware that it probably wouldn’t happen again. However, a small piece of doubt entered his mind as he remember that was exactly what he thought yesterday, too, and another meme had sprung into his life the very next morning. It might happen again, tomorrow.

 

Stan and Bill looked like Eddie had just signed his fate, and he felt like he had too.

 

-

 

Sure, Eddie’s life was made up of lots of little Big Deals, capital B and D, such as the first time a girl liked him, and that time he pet a dog without his ‘allergies’ flaring up, and the time Stan and Bill threw him a surprise party for his twelfth birthday. But...

 

It felt like _Derry High Memes_ had become one of those little Big Deals. Not only had they posted two photos of Eddie, but they had now posted a brand new status; _every time i see eddie w his inhaler i just wanna take it from him and give him the kiss of life._

 

Eddie hated how that one made him feel, on a cold Thursday morning, almost… warm inside? It was the third day in a row that they had posted about him, and not only that, but some comments had been left on the newest post.

 

Such as Betty Ripsom, who had left a comment with fifteen likes on it: _Geez, at this point you should just rename the page to Eddie Kaspbrak Memes._

 

To which the page had replied: _wow, fantastic idea_.

 

Thus, _Derry High Memes_ was no more, and _Eddie Kaspbrak Memes_ emerged from the ashes.

 

Eddie really didn’t know how to react. At school, walking to English, he noticed more stares in the hallway coming his way, and he knew exactly why. He even heard his name, occasional and hushed, coming from random people he barely knew. His heart felt like it was thumping in his chest a bit too heavily as he entered English and took his regular seat next to Stan.

 

Anxious, that was one way describe his mood.

 

It wasn’t even about what the intentions of the posts were anymore, Eddie just felt like it had been twisted. He hated how it had become a big fat joke that the whole school was involved in.

 

Still, a voice in the back of his mind told him to find the admin. Just in case it was… well. Someone serious.

 

“So, another post, hey?” Stan said before Eddie’s butt had even hit the chair.

 

“Yeah, but you can’t do anything! I don’t want you to!” Eddie fought valiantly, but he knew Stan had made his mind up.

 

Throughout the years, Stan had been more and more comfortable talking to other people. Maybe it was the sociality of going to synagogue, as neither Bill nor Eddie ever went to church, or maybe he had just grown up. Either way, Stan was definitely going to go ahead with his plan, and Eddie knew it.

 

He kept his head facing straight in front of him as he saw Stan turn to face behind him, where Beverly was sat, and strike up his offer. Eddie knew Richie was behind him, he had seen him when he walked in and even if he hadn’t, he could hear the relentless tapping of his fingers against his desk.

 

“Hi, Beverly. I have a small proposition.” Stan said, and Eddie finally turned around to his right, to face Stan at the very least.

 

“Stan!” Eddie said, rightfully tempered. “Stop!”

 

Now, Beverly was in his peripheral instead of Stan, and it took all Eddie had to not look at Richie, knowing he was right _there_ , just past his peripheral.

 

“Ignore him.” said Stan, with a pinched smile on his lips. Eddie suddenly missed his friend’s social ineptitude.

 

“Hello… Stan…” Beverly said confusedly, and Eddie finally turned to face her. The confidence of his friend spurred him to talk to her when, regularly, he would not.

 

“Ignore _him_!” Eddie said.

 

It wasn’t that Beverly and Richie were, like, cool or whatever, but they were definitely cooler than Eddie was. They smoked under the bleachers together, which Eddie would never do in a million years, and their other friend Mike was on the football team. Eddie usually didn’t speak to people he considered to be higher up than himself, in terms of the social hierarchy.

 

Now that he was looking at Beverly, though, he was basically looking at Richie too, who was grinning wildly at the exchange taking place in front of him. Eddie had eye contact for a second before he had to look away, lest his heart actually beat through his chest.

 

“I don’t know who to listen to.” Beverly said, tucking her short, orange hair behind her ear. She sounded confused, and yeah, Eddie was not surprised.

 

“Listen to me,” Stan said, “we’re trying to figure out who’s behind that meme page.”

 

Beverly squeaked.

 

“ _We’re_ …” Eddie mocked Stan’s voice, “you mean you and Bill are.”

 

“You don’t think it’s funny?” Richie said his first words, pointed at Eddie, which meant Eddie had to look at him.

 

“I do, sort of.” He said, truthfully, “I just don’t want to know who it is incase it’s, like, Henry fucking Bowers taking the piss out of me.”

 

Richie laughed at that, loud and bold just like the rest of himself, before he rested his chin in his hands, “You don’t think it could be some sort of secret admirer.”

 

Eddie blushed, and his mind said _no, I don’t_ , but his mouth stayed closed.

 

“Well, that’s what I want to know.” Stan said, “Bill and I had this plan where we get someone who isn’t exactly associated with us to go undercover as an admin to figure out who owns the page. Bill and I thought you’d be good for it, Beverly.”

 

Beverly squinted and it almost looked like she was holding in a laugh from the way her cheeks rounded and her face heated. “I… don’t know.” She said, and looked at Richie.

 

Richie’s hands were fidgeting quicker than before, as he tapped them together instead of on the desk. Eddie sort of wanted to make him stop by holding them still, but then he thought he probably shouldn’t do that. That would look, like, weird. Or something.

 

“It’s fine to say no, we can find someone else.” Stan said, ever the peaceful.

 

“Say no.” Eddie said, “Say no.” He repeated.

 

Beverly looked conflicted as she stared between Stan and Eddie, and then Richie. “Did you say Bill, like, Bill Denbrough?”

 

Richie grinned at that, “Of course.” but then he went back to fiddling with his fingers. He was finally looking at Beverly, though, and she was looking back at him in the same way.

 

“Yeah.” Stan said, and Eddie crossed his arms and sighed. It seemed like she was going to do it now.

 

“Should I?” She asked Richie, like there was more to the question than a simple yes or no. Richie just nodded in response.

 

“Might be cool to get inside. Like. How I was inside your aunt last night.”

 

“You’re disgusting,” She said, but her eyes held onto Richie’s for several more seconds like she was really making sure. Eddie thought it was weird, vaguely wondering if they were dating but too anxious to voice his thoughts. Even if they were dating it was weird that she was practically asking him for permission.

 

“You’ll do it?” Stan asked, and Beverly nodded in response.

 

“Just let me know how we’re going to execute it and I’ll get right on it.” She said.

 

“I’ll set up a groupchat. Richie, do you want to be in it too?” Stan asked, and Eddie turned to face Richie, really taking in his features.

 

He was weird looking, in a cute way, Eddie had decided long ago. He had galaxies of freckles on his cheeks and Eddie secretly thought that if he spent long enough looking he might be able to find some constellations. He also had ridiculously long eyelashes and weirdly nice hands, and Eddie really had to stop himself from thinking like this. How was he going to keep this side of himself secret if he couldn’t handle himself around Richie Tozier.

 

“Why, yes of course.” Richie spoke in a British accent, which startled a laugh out of Eddie, one loud enough that Mrs Forder ordered him and Stan to face the front.

 

-

 

_Stanley Uris named the group Operation EKM_

 

 **Stanley Uris:** EKM is Eddie Kaspbrak Memes, by the way.

 

 **Bill Denbrough:** didnt take a genius to figure that out XD !!

 

 **Stanley Uris:** Shut up??

 

 **Richie Tozier:** hey ladies

 

 **Edward Kaspbrak:** WHY DID YOU ADD ME INTO THIS

 

 **Richie Tozier:** damn ur loud over text lol u that loud in bed?

 

 **Bill Denbrough:** did beverly actually agree to this ????

 

 **Bev Marsh:** Ya

 

 **Stanley Uris:** Cool. Now that we’re all here I’d like to get to the plan. Beverly: message the page asking if you can admin because you think it’s funny. Everyone else: silence.

 

 **Bev Marsh:** Ok brb

 

 **Edward Kaspbrak:** WHY

 

 **Stanley Uris:** Shut up, Eddie.

 

 **Richie Tozier:** why is ur name edward on here anyway thats so weird jsjsjd

 

 **Edward Kaspbrak:** Maybe because it’s MY NAME????

 

 **Richie Tozier:** yeah ok. btw tell bella i can babysit renesmee anytime

 

 **Edward Kaspbrak:**?????

 

-

 

After that, it was commonplace for Bev or Richie to talk to Stan and Eddie in their English class. About the ‘plan’ sometimes, which didn’t seem to be going very far, or other times various classroom topics. Either way, the conversations never left the room, or the Operation EKM groupchat.

 

The page had posted some more things, memes about Eddie’s neverending supply of coloured shorts, the pattern of which days he wore which coloured socks (which was something he had thought no one would ever pick up on), and even Eddie’s fannypack, which he had given up when he was fourteen and felt like a distant memory even to himself, so he had no idea how whoever it was behind the page even remembered.

 

The group was trying their hardest to gain access to the page, apparently the page had just said no to Bev joining which was something no one expected. Maybe if they talked outside of their allotted time, Eddie distantly thought, they’d figure out a way to do it. Not that he wanted it done, or anything.

 

It was Italian, one of Eddie’s worst classes, where Richie wandered in and sat next to him.

 

Finally, a part of Eddie thought, but the rest of himself was trying to stop his palms from sweating and his face from going too red. He pulled a disinfectant wipe from his bag to wipe his hands with.

 

“How’s it going, Eddie boy?” That was also something Richie had started doing, nicknames.

 

Eddie rolled his eyes like he always did, “Why are you sitting with me? And don’t call me that.”

 

“Sorry, Edward-” (Eddie groaned) “- won’t happen again. Can’t I sit next to my new budster?”

 

“No.” Eddie said blankly, but he knew Richie knew he was being sarcastic from the shit-eating grin on his face. That was also how he could tell Richie was about to make a crude joke.

 

“Guess that’s alright. Your mom might get jealous if I spend too much time with you. There’s only twenty-four hours of Richie available a day, you know.”

 

Eddie scoffed, but he had to bite the insides of his cheek to stop the smile he felt festering. Of course, ten minutes later the conversation had somehow steered into Operation EKM territory, something Eddie would not mind to have some time away from at this point.

 

“Why are you so against finding out who it is anyway?” Richie asked.

 

Eddie sighed, feeling more comfortable in Richie’s presence after getting to actually know him the last few weeks, “I don’t want it to be some fucking random person just making fun of me.”

 

“You really think they’re making fun of you?” Richie asked, confused.

 

“Well, yeah? It makes sense doesn’t it?” Eddie could feel his speech speeding up, worry overtaking his social skills, “Like, why would someone be doing it seriously? I don’t really know that many people so it makes more sense for it to be someone making fun of me then, like, anyone else, you know? Logically?”

 

“You’re stupid,” Richie said, smiling, “I think you want it to be someone not kidding but you don’t want to get your hopes up. Well, no worries Edster. It’s not _that_ hard to like you…”

 

Just as Eddie felt his heart beating at maximum capacity, Richie continued.

 

“... you are your mom’s son after all.”

 

“You don’t even know my mom!” Eddie squealed.

 

“Eddie, I was literally in her bed last night.”

 

“You’re disgusting!” But really Eddie thought he was hilarious. God, Richie made him want to laugh harder than anyone else ever had. He wondered why he ever let Stan talk to Bev in the first place, and why he hadn’t tried harder to stop him, because getting to know Richie was the worst decision Eddie had ever made.

 

“Wow, she said the same thing!” Richie squawked out a laugh at Eddie hit him with his pencil.

 

They were lucky this class was pretty chill. Two periods a week was not even close to enough to actually learn a language and yeah, Mrs Rizzi knew it too.

 

“You serious though?” Richie asked hesitantly, “You don’t think it could be some girl?”

 

“I don’t want it to be some _girl_.” Eddie scoffed with maybe a bit too much force, but when he looked over at Richie he was still smiling, so he probably hadn’t picked up on it.

 

-

 

_public service announcement: eddie kaspbrak deserves better_

 

Eddie stared at his phone’s screen, wondering at what point he begun truly appreciating whoever it was behind the _Eddie Kaspbrak Memes_ page. It seemed like the more Eddie read over the posts, the less they seemed malicious and the more they seemed… he didn’t really know. But maybe there really was someone out there who liked him.

 

_imagine being eddie’s inhaler lol like if u agree_

 

He couldn’t help but imagine it was Richie who ran the page, a thought he had never shared with neither Bill or Stan, because the more he got to know him the more he realised how many subtle meme references Richie made in day to day life, and all the posts were just so… Richie. Maybe it was just wishful thinking.

 

_“u are what u eat” ok did i eat an eddie kaspbrak super fan for breakfast or ???_

 

The way they typed was the same as Richie too; entirely lowercase with little grammar, substituting the letter u for the word you and other small things like that.

 

_“have u ever looked at someone and wondered what is going on inside their head?”_

_my head: pinching eddie’s cheeks, calling him eds, eating dinner with eddie_

 

That one post was always going through his mind like a broken record ( _calling him eds calling him eds calling him eds calling him eds_ ). That was an entirely Richie thing to say, like, he was the only one who called Eddie _Eds_ ever, he practically got off to the thought of calling him nicknames.

 

But whatever. It was just wishful thinking.

 

-

 

“I was thinking we could head to Bassey Park after school.” Richie appeared out of nowhere.

 

Eddie jumped, he had been walking to his locker to get his books for last period. “Jesus fucking Christ, Richie! I almost had a heart attack!”

 

“Jesus fucking Christ? More like Richie fucking your mom.” Richie said, and Eddie groaned in response like he did every time Richie said anything ever.

 

“The more you talk about my mom the more I want to drown you in the canal.” Eddie said, and his voice cracked on the word canal like he was twelve instead of sixteen.

 

Richie bursted out laughing, “Kinky. Can’t spell canal without anal.”

 

“Oh my god Richie!” Eddie groaned but secretly he was wondering how he could come up with that response so quickly.

 

“But really. Bassey Park.” Richie said with more force, less humour.

 

“Alright. Meet me at my locker after last period.” Eddie said, like he wasn’t interested at all when in reality his stomach was fluttering like it was the hive to a thousand killer bees.

 

He didn’t know what class Richie had, but he knew he, himself, had human biology, which he had never seen Richie in, and Eddie would know if Richie was in that class. He always knew.

 

He was quite sure his face was red for at least twenty minutes as he wondered what Richie could want from him at Bassey Park. They’d have to cross the Kissing Bridge to get there. But maybe he’d invited Bev too, and it wasn’t just going to be them, or something.

 

He knew he was only thinking like that because he didn’t want to be disappointed by whatever Richie was planning, which was probably not to woo Eddie but Eddie had hopes like any other human being too. He couldn’t help but hope his crush liked him back. Not that it was likely.

 

The final bell went in a blur, and Eddie had barely done any work. They were just starting the endocrine system and Eddie was beyond confused so it was probably for the best anyway, then he could do the work at home where he had his best friend Google to lend a hand.

 

All he wanted was to be free of Miss Blackman’s grasp and to his locker, and by the time he got there, Richie was leaning against it in his entire glory waiting for _him_. God, Eddie felt weirdly lucky that Richie decided to spend his time with him.

 

And the weirdest part; when Richie saw Eddie walking down the hall he smiled _so_ widely that Eddie’s heart faltered, and Eddie almost thought there was something wrong with himself until he realised, _no, that’s just Richie Tozier._

 

“Hey, Eds.” Richie said, like usual.

 

“Don’t call me that.” Eddie grumbled, following the script. Then, Richie threw his arm over Eddie’s shoulder and they begun the walk out of the school.

 

The only thing Eddie could even think about was their insane height difference. Richie could probably rest his chin on Eddie’s head if he wanted to, and the thought made Eddie blush in the dumbest way. God, he felt so stupid all the time whenever Richie was around.

 

They walked over the Kissing Bridge and into Bassey Park, short conversation between them as they moved to sit underneath one of the bigger trees in the area. Eddie’s mind was telling him to not sit on the dirty ground, but since he was trying to undo the psychological trauma caused by his mother he decided to do just that, and Richie sat beside him.

 

“Okay, I need to tell you something and you might get mad at me.” Richie said, a nervous smile on his features.

 

Eddie didn’t know what to think in that moment, his mind whirred a thousand miles and hour as he tried to come up with one concrete thought. The most prevalent, though, was _maybe he likes me_ , and Eddie wanted to crush that thought with his bare hands for ever giving him false hope.

 

“Like… actually mad?” Eddie asked.

 

“I don’t know.” Richie looked down at the ground, and then at the sky, and then at the tree, but not once at Eddie. “I probably wouldn’t get mad but that’s just because I don’t take anything seriously, or whatever.”

 

It was starting to sound less like a possible love confession in Eddie’s mind, and instead of that false hope he was worried about his mind was instead full of anxiety.

 

“Tell me.” Eddie said, as if Richie wasn’t going to before.

 

“What if… like… hypothetically…” Richie was talking a while to speak, and Eddie frowned. He hadn't known Richie long enough to deduce much from him but from what he could tell, Richie found it hard to be serious, and he was currently trying to say something serious in a way that didn’t appear too serious. “...I know who _Eddie Kaspbrak Memes_ is?”

 

“Do I want to know?” Eddie asked frantically, “Is it someone bad? Do I know them? Do I actually want to know this information? How long have you known? Does Bev know too? Is this something I really want to know?”

 

_Is it you?_

 

Richie looked up, confused but trying to answer all the questions; “I don’t know if you want to know. I don’t know if you’ll think they’re bad, but you do know… them. I’ve know the whole time and so has Bev.”

 

“The _entire_ time?!” Eddie screeched, basically, and hit Richie in the arm.

 

_I want it to be you._

 

“Yeah.” Richie looked away, back at the tree and started picking off pieces of bark.

 

“Careful, little wood fibres are being released into the air that you could breathe in every time you fuck with the bark.” Eddie said on instinct, and Richie’s arm flopped to the ground where he began fiddling with a fallen leaf. “Who is it?”

 

“You’ll actually hate me.” Richie was smiling a little bit, but Eddie knew that it was sort of an uncontrollable, defensive sort of smile. The sort that happens when people like Richie try being serious.

 

“I’ll only hate you if you make another joke about my mom.” Eddie said, because he wanted to lighten the mood. Everything in his mind was screaming _it’s him, it’s him, it’s him._ The thought was making his anxiety thrum beneath his skin like static electricity. His fingers were shaking slightly.

 

“Ok, so… what if, like… hypothetically, again…” Richie took his time, and Eddie didn’t dare rush him, “...it was, like… me?”

 

Eddie sort of wanted to squeal, but he didn’t want to frighten Richie. He knew him now, he knew he had said all that stuff about _what if it’s a secret admirer_ and shit like that and he knew, he just knew, that Richie Tozier wasn’t making fun of him. No, this was his own little way of… well. Eddie didn’t want to assume anything.

 

“Why?” Eddie asked.

 

“Because… you, I just… we had never talked, and I sort of… liked you?” Richie said slowly, “Sorry. I just had to tell you.”

 

And now Eddie knew. _Eddie Kaspbrak Memes_ was Richie’s way of expressing his feelings, through anonymity and humour. It felt eye opening in a way, that the very essence of the page was so Richie that Eddie should have suspected it all along.

 

“Richie… I like you too.” Eddie said.

 

“You do?” And he sounded surprised, like Eddie liking Richie was so unimaginable. Eddie could relate to that sort of thought process, because in all his fantasies and daydreams he never really thought Richie could like him.

 

“Yeah, since before we even became friends.” Eddie confirmed, because Richie had just said something similar and he didn’t want him to think he was the only one.

 

Richie laughed slightly, “Guess I have to break up with your mom now.”

 

“Um, I just realised I don’t know you and I have to leave immediately.” Eddie said, but Richie just laughed.

 

“Can’t escape me now, Eddie Spaghetti.” Richie said, and his eyes looked _bright_ , it was the only way to describe it. Soft, maybe, could work.

 

“Eddie Spaghetti?” Eddie laughed, almost fondly.

 

“It’s a new one.” Richie said, “You like it?”

 

“I hate it.” Eddie replied, but he meant the complete opposite.

 

They sat there for three more hours, and at six o’clock, when the sun was just beginning to go down, Richie said they could walk home together. They walked side by side as the bitterly cold wind drew them closer together, for warmth of course, and when they got to the outside of Eddie’s house, Richie revealed they had walked past his house ten minutes before that, he just wanted to see Eddie get home safely. Then, he placed his left hand underneath Eddie’s chin, which he lifted up so their lips could meet. It was sweet and soft, like everything else about the pair.

 

“Tell your mom I said I can’t make it tonight,” Richie had laughed, “and that I’m too busy recovering from my hot date all afternoon.”

 

Eddie laughed softly at that and kissed Richie again, before he went inside and told his mother nothing of what had happened that day. He thought, for a while, how and what he would tell Bill and Stan, and if they’d be fine with it, but decided that was a problem for another day as he fell asleep with a smile on his face.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



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